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26 stories matching drape
- Seattle Pauses for the General: A City Honors Ulysses S. Grant
When word reached the Pacific Northwest that General Ulysses S. Grant had passed away, Seattle held a solemn city-wide memorial to honor the leader of the Union Army.
- When Seattle Draped Its Church in Flags for the Union Dead
In 1895, veterans packed First Methodist at Third and Marion for an elaborate Memorial Sunday sermon, with stacked rifles, roses, palms and a choir.
- The Governor Died Two Days After Taking to His Room — and Never Said Goodbye
Samuel G. Cosgrove, elected to lead Washington in November, died of Bright's disease at a California sanitarium. Olympia draped the capitol in crape, called out the National Guard, and swore in his lieutenant governor before the funeral was over.
- Tacoma Mourns Five Residents Lost on the Steamship Clallam
Tacoma reels from the loss of five residents in a deadly steamboat sinking as questions of seaworthiness arise.
- The Governor’s Rally in Snohomish
A political procession of 1,000 torchbearers marches through Snohomish to support John H. McGraw’s gubernatorial bid.
- The Mysterious Death on Mercer Island
A secret society lodge mourns the loss of a prominent member killed in an ambush on the shores of Lake Washington.
- The Great Washington Women’s Convention: A Sea of Green and White
Delegates from across the state gather in Tacoma to debate education, manual training, and the power of organized female civic life.
- An Elk-Sized Celebration in Tacoma
Tacoma’s Lodge No. 174 hosted a lavish Washington’s Birthday banquet, featuring grand toasts to the 'United States' and urgent pleas for the protection of local wildlife.
- The Art of the Stage Ballet in 1890s Seattle
San Francisco dance instructor L. Cook visits Cordray’s Theater to teach elaborate, avant-garde ballets to local girls.
- The Library Ball that Defined 1889 Seattle
High society gathers at the First Regiment Armory to fund the Yesler Library, marking a glittering return to the social calendar after the solemnity of Lent.
- The Midwinter Circus Comes to Armory Hall
Whitman College students and local bands transform the Armory into a big-top spectacle for a week of performances.
- The Bathtub Comedy That Saved the Day
A struggling young couple in a Seattle play find their only salvation in a piece of furniture that isn't quite what it seems.
- A State Mourns Its Most Prominent Lawyer
When Colonel John Charles Haines died in 1892, Seattle’s legal and civic community ground to a halt, organizing a massive public funeral that served as a rare, unified display of civic mourning.
- A Crepe-Draped Cleveland and the Custom-House Deal
Port Townsend Democrats gather amid patronage bargains, a sacrificed ally, and a prank that put the president's portrait in mourning.
- The Day Seattle Put on Its Holiday Mask
As the nation prepares for Grover Cleveland’s final inauguration, local officials are busy draping Jackson Street in bunting and erecting viewing stands, turning a small Pacific Northwest town into a temporary stage for American democracy.
- Olympia's Grand Washington's Birthday Celebration and Statehood Pride
A parade, a packed theater, and a speech linking Washington's legacy to the new state of Washington—Olympia celebrates February 22, 1892.
- A Rancher Died Alone, and His Animals Waited
Henry Bahr had planned to move in with his daughter in Kennewick after one more season. Instead, a neighbor found him dead in his ranch house, his livestock starving in the barn.
- A Seattle Church Honors the Bishop Who Built Black Methodism on the Coast
The African Methodist Episcopal church on Jones Street fills for memorial exercises for Bishop Thomas M. D. Ward, a Pacific Coast missionary and the denomination's tenth bishop.
- The Seal-Skin Obsession: Why Seattle Ladies Wear More Fur Than Any Other City
A local furrier reveals that the city's obsession with expensive sealskin sacks is driven by climate, fashion, and a secret supply chain from London.
- An Ex-Priest Turns a Packed Seattle Hall Against the Jesuits
At Ranke's Hall, former Catholic priest J. B. Daly tells the A.P.A. that the Society of Jesus is a secret political machine—then drapes himself in the flag and leads three cheers.
- Olympia to Boston: 'The Athens of the Northwest' Makes Its Case
A Unitarian minister's letter to Eastern readers insists that the capital city, older than Seattle or Tacoma, is no backwater — and that the whole Sound country is bound to Boston by blood and history.
- The Last Voyage of Arthur Phinney: A Fleet of Steamers Bids Farewell to a Pioneer
In June 1877, the death of Port Ludlow founder Arthur Phinney triggered an unprecedented maritime funeral procession on Puget Sound, uniting rival steamship lines and hundreds of mourners in a tribute to a man who championed labor and community.
- The Silver Fight Waiting Inside Spokane’s Republican Convention
Nine Supreme Court hopefuls, three congressional candidates, and a free-silver bloc turn Washington’s 1894 state convention into a backroom brawl before it even opens.
- Seattle Loses by Half a Length—and Wins the Lake
In August 1894, Seattle's first amateur regatta drew crowds to the Madison Street shore of Lake Washington for a four-oared thriller against Portland and Burrard Inlet. The home crew lost by less than half a length, but set a course record and gave the young city a new civic stage.
- The Orphan’s Plea: A Poem That Moved Seattle to Tears on Decoration Day
As the city honored Civil War dead with solemn processions and speeches, a young girl’s grief over her father’s unmarked grave brought the Grand Marshal to tears.